Financial market research firm Fundstrat’s Tom Lee[1] defended his position that Bitcoin[2] (BTC) could trade at anywhere from $22,000 to $25,000 by the year’s end, in two CNBC interviews[3] Thursday, July 5.
Lee made sure to clarify to reporters that his most recent $22,000 price prediction is emphatically not a bearish retreat from his previous forecasts of $25,000.
Lee, a notorious Bitcoin bull, is famous for his prediction[4] in January that Bitcoin would hit $25,000 by the end of 2018, later saying in March it would reach a staggering $91,000[5] by 2020.
Speaking on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” segment Thursday morning, Lee at first appeared to have somewhat toned down his bullish outlook by saying that “it’s not out of the question that [BTC] could be over the $20,000 by the end of the year.” Lee based his rationale for the new estimate on the historic correlation between Bitcoin’s price and mining[6] costs, which he says by the end of the year will be around $9,000 per coin mined.
Reappearing on CNBC Thursday afternoon, Lee was quick to clarify what he considered to be an exaggerated reaction to his morning comments, saying that:
“I do think it’s the first time I’ve ever heard someone thinking something could triple is a bearish comment. I think I may have misspoken a little bit […] what I was trying to illustrate was that [...] applying the historical average of 2 and a half times mining costs would imply fair value over $20,000 - roughly $22,000.”
Lee then added: “[w]e still think bitcoin can reach $25,000 by the end of the year or something like that.”
